Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu dam on the Cauvery, expressing concern over a recent site inspection by Union government officials and urging the Centre not to grant any statutory or administrative approval to the project without the consent of the co-basin states, PTI reported on Saturday, November 7.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld

In the letter, Vijay urged the Prime Minister to advise Karnataka not to proceed with the project without that consent, and to defer any further administrative or technical action arising from the recent site inspection, PTI reported. He said the proposed reservoir of 67.16 TMC would not only prevent flows but also affect the monthly deliveries due to Tamil Nadu, and stressed the need to ensure sustained water availability in the Cauvery basin of the state.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld

Objection to the Centre's Rajya Sabha reply

Vijay also objected to a reply given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti in the Rajya Sabha to an unstarred question, which stated that the Supreme Court's February 16, 2018 judgment does not expressly stipulate that Karnataka should obtain the consent of the lower riparian states before constructing a structure across the Cauvery, ANI reported. Describing the reply as “disappointing”, he said it appeared to have been made without taking into consideration the prevailing legal position and settled law on the consent of lower riparian states.

Source: ANI via OB News

Citing the Constitution Bench judgment in the Alamatti case (State of Karnataka vs State of Andhra Pradesh), Vijay said the Supreme Court had ruled that Karnataka could not undertake such construction without the consent of the lower riparian state, which was absolutely necessary. He said the top court had expressly affirmed Clause XVIII of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) Award, under which each state may regulate waters within its territory only in a manner consistent with the Tribunal's directions, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via OB News

He further cited Clause XI of the Award, which he said prohibits any upper riparian state from taking action affecting scheduled deliveries to downstream states except through mutual agreement and consultation with the regulatory authority, and Clause XX, under which any modification to the Award can be made only through agreement among the party states. He also pointed to the Tribunal's observations in Kerala's Pambar hydro-electric project — involving only 0.1 TMC of consumptive use — where Kerala and Tamil Nadu were directed to jointly decide the schedule of releases so downstream irrigation was not adversely affected.

Source: ANI via OB News

What Vijay has asked the Prime Minister to do

The Chief Minister requested the Centre to withdraw the Rajya Sabha reply and to ensure that no statutory or administrative approval is granted to Mekedatu unless it is demonstrably consistent with the CWDT Award and the Supreme Court judgment, ANI reported. He said the project could not be evaluated merely as an engineering proposal and that its legal permissibility must first be examined, noting that Karnataka's 2019 Detailed Project Report had been returned by the Central Water Commission for revision to ensure compliance with the Tribunal Award.

Source: ANI via OB News

Calling the Cauvery “the lifeline of millions of farmers and citizens across southern India”, Vijay urged the Centre to protect the rights of the lower riparian states on both the quantity of water and the regulated pattern of releases, and sought the Prime Minister's intervention “in the larger interest of justice, federal harmony and faithful implementation of judicial decisions”. There was no immediate response from the Centre or Karnataka in the wire reports.

Source: ANI via OB News